FOCUS ON TECH

Forget everything you know about Henry Ford’s auto industry with its oil changes, fossil fuels and even steering wheels. The auto industry of the future is taking shape and it looks more like an industry suited for Steve Jobs than the founding father of the assembly line.

Engines, transmissions and miles per gallon are taking a backseat to connectivity, automated features and zero-emission powertrains. Automakers are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on new technologies and partnering with Silicon Valley tech companies in an attempt to transform the auto industry into a mobility hotbed.

Few people think about the materials that make up the cars they drive, the jetliners they board or the bridges they traverse, but students taking courses in composites at Michigan State University (MSU) do. Enrolled in a collection of classes offered by the College of Engineering, many of these students are also conducting composites research in one of the numerous high-tech labs in MSU’s Composite Materials and Structures Center in East Lansing, MI.

If a vacuum cleaner could be successfully reengineered into a self-propelled cleaning machine (think Roomba robot) and the phone now doubles as a mini-computer, why hasn’t anyone figured out how to make a woman’s high-heeled shoe more comfortable while maintaining a fashion forward look?

Business Profile

World War II was both a boon and a hindrance to the German company Hella, parent of automotive lighting and electronics supplier Hella North America. The company, which had grown to 1,000 employees in 1937 since its founding in 1899, had dwindled to just 45 by the end of the war. But also during World War II, Germany and several other countries developed radar.

Stepping into Pratt & Miller Engineering headquarters in New Hudson, MI, one thing becomes clear: This is an operation with a passion for embracing the very latest in advanced engineering and manufacturing techniques. Pratt & Miller Engineering does a fair amount of sophisticated but low-volume manufacturing for its automotive and military clients.

As the saying goes, the eyes are windows to the soul. As it turns out, they’re also windows to a person’s health. That’s the basic idea behind OcuSciences, an Ann Arbor, MI, based company set up to license and commercialize technology developed at the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center.

PEOPLE

“Magna’s philosophy reflects my belief that people should not be compartmentalized and trapped inside a specific role. As such, I have been given the chance to build my own path and now I am able to extend the opportunity to other people.”

Rebecca Taylor has been a strong leader in the traditionally male-dominated field of manufacturing since graduating from college in 1988. She was pursuing her interest in economics when an opportunity to practice trade policy led her to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1991, she joined the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS).

LIFESTYLE

If you haven’t hopped on a bicycle since you were a kid, now’s the time to get back in the saddle. Even avid riders will have a hard time keeping up with the activities for cyclists in Metro Detroit and beyond. As the interest in this refreshingly old-fashioned pastime continues to climb, the number of trails, clubs and events are not far behind. Here’s a look at what’s happening in the enticing world of two-wheelers.

If you’re craving a creative outlet that yields fabulous food, look no further than these local venues with culinary programs as varied as the fare that is prepared. Testing new recipes lets you connect with others while learning new techniques to try at home.

Technology may bring convenience to our homes, but pieces from the past add character. For those looking to do some antique shopping in Southeast Michigan, here are a handful of local sources to get you started on your quest.

DEPARTMENTS

Few people think about the materials that make up the cars they drive, the jetliners they board or the bridges they traverse, but students taking courses in composites at Michigan State University (MSU) do. Enrolled in a collection of classes offered by the College of Engineering, many of these students are also conducting composites research in one of the numerous high-tech labs in MSU’s Composite Materials and Structures Center in East Lansing, MI.

A simple electronic mobile device will be able to alert a caregiver when an elderly person makes movements that indicate he or she is about to get up from a wheelchair. Known as “Sparrow,” this Android device was developed by an team of physicians, scientists and professors to provide caregivers the information they need to return in time to prevent an elderly occupant from leaving a wheelchair unnoticed and unassisted.

Southeast Michigan’s top tech executives are very optimistic about 2016 — even more so than their Silicon Valley counterparts in terms of growth, revenue, R&D investment and hiring, according to Automation Alley’s 2016 Technology Industry Report.

All across Michigan, our daily economy and quality of life depend on the public infrastructure around us, including those big electrical towers and wires you see in urban and rural corridors and along highways. These societal assets are part of the backbone power transmission grid that carries safe and reliable electricity into our communities, serving our homes, businesses, hospitals, plants and schools.

Desks are everywhere: in our homes, schools, offices, the Oval Office. They have even been fashioned on treadmills. But desks weren’t always essential. The origins of the desk trace back 600 years, sparked not by a single moment of invention, but by the growth of literacy. Medieval scribes used the earliest known desks around 1440.

Students at Oakland University in Rochester, MI, can now work out while doing homework, thanks to the addition of desks that double as exercise bikes at the university’s Kresge Library. Students can choose the exercise function to read, study or use their laptop computers on a platform mounted on the bike’s handlebars